Skylar Says: ” Don’t hug me; hug a cat!”

Skylar at the office!

Hi, Skylar here,

There was talk around the WPS office about an article on whether dogs like to hug. I say, go hug a cat! Don’t get me wrong, I love attention, cuddling and play wrestling.

When it comes to body hugs so tight that I can’t get away, I am not a fan.

Mom giving Darby a loose hug!

I wondered if I was the only one who felt this way, so I did my own research. Through extensive howling in the yard, barking at other dogs whenever I could and sending pee mail.  Mom said my results were pretty close to what Karen B. London, PhD wrote.

Most of us enjoy a good nuzzle from our peeps if they don’t come at us quickly, over top of us or put us in a choke hold. We love our peeps and would do anything for them even if it means putting up with uncomfortable things, sometimes. If you’re not coming is low and slow, I suggest you hug a cat for practice.

Really, every pup is different and every situation is different.  Peeps just need to learn  dog body language to know whether we like it or not.

Almost all of the pups I surveyed gave 2 paws down to a stranger hugging them; there were a few Chocolate Labrador and Golden Retriever hold-outs who were pretty happy with anything, and some pups preferred to hug a cat!

I do love hugs when they are my idea; when they start out loose and were my idea; soft and not constricting and were my idea. I like to know that I can get away when I have had enough.  Jumping up on people is my favorite type of hugging. My peeps are getting good at not encouraging it, but I do it anyway 😉

Claire told me about hugging and she said she loved it and that I had better get used to it because that is how peeps tell you they love you. I don’t have Claire to talk to anymore and the neighbour cats don’t like me barking at them for their opinions. My online research about why anyone would want to hug a cat shows that they are different from me …. I found out they wag their tails for different reasons than I do cat body language is similar but different from us dogs.

Overall cats seem to be more open to hugs but again it seems like there is a right and a wrong way to hug a cat as some of them would prefer not to be hugged at all. Silly humans.

To read more Skylar Says blog posts, check out “There’s a right way to introduce dogs”.